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Introduction

Windows XP comes with a set of eye candy which can easily be enabled in your existing applications with the use of a manifest. I will show to of these methods, using an external manifest and adding the manifest to an existing .NET Windows Forms based application.. 

The following three forms are the same application run in different ways.

WindowsNT	WindowsXP without Manifest	WindowsXP with Manifest

To get the different appearance in WindowsXP we need to encourage the operating system to use Comctl32.dll version 6 and set your button FlatStyle to System (not the default). To do this we will need to provide a manifest (shown below). The manifest can be a separate file or built into the executable. 

Making a Manifest

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0">
	<assemblyIdentity
	   version="1.0.0.0"
	   processorArchitecture="X86"
	   name="Microsoft.Winweb.REPLACE_ME_HERE"
	   type="win32"
	/>
	<description>Your comment here</description>
	<dependency>
	   <dependentAssembly>
	     <assemblyIdentity
	       type="win32"
	       name="Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls"
	       version="6.0.0.0"
	       processorArchitecture="X86"
	       publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df"
	       language="*"
	     />
	   </dependentAssembly>
	</dependency>
</assembly>

To use this manifest you MUST replace the REPLACE_ME_HERE text with the name of your application. ie if your applications executable is called TestManifest.exe then the manifest would look like this.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<assembly xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" manifestVersion="1.0">
	<assemblyIdentity
	   version="1.0.0.0"
	   processorArchitecture="X86"
	   name="Microsoft.Winweb.TestManifest"
	   type="win32"
	/>
	<description>My Manifest Testing application</description>
	<dependency>
	   <dependentAssembly>
	     <assemblyIdentity
	       type="win32"
	       name="Microsoft.Windows.Common-Controls"
	       version="6.0.0.0"
	       processorArchitecture="X86"
	       publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df"
	       language="*"
	     />
	   </dependentAssembly>
	</dependency>
</assembly>

Using an External Manifest file

The simplest way to use the manifest is to name it the same as your executable plus a .manifest extension and place it in the same folder as your executable. If you application is called TestManifest.exe then name your manifest TestManifest.exe.manifest.The operating system will detect the manifest and fire up your application using ComCtrl32.dll version 6 with all the flashy graphics.

Building the Manifest into your Executable

A more elegant solution is to build the manifest into your executable so no troglodyte one can try to run your application without the flashy XP colours. To do this we will add our manifest file (above) to the executable with a Resource type of RT_MANIFEST and an ID or 1.

• Using VisualStudio.NET select File->Open->File from the menu.
• Browse to the Executable you wish to add the manifest to and open it.
• The application will appear in a resource view.
• Right click on the application name and choose Add Resource ... from the context menu.
• The Add Resource dialog will appear. Select the Import ... button.
• Browse to the manifest file we created earlier and open it.
• The Custom Resource Type dialog will appear. Type in a Resource type of RT_MANIFEST and press OK.
• The Manifest file will appear in hex. Open the Property dialog and set the following;
• ID  = 1
• Language = Neutral
• Close and save both the manifest window and the executable window. The executable in the resource editor should look something like this.

Now the executable many be given to your friends without the manifest and still appear with the flashy XP controls.

Getting buttons to appear correctly

Buttons and items derived from buttons such as check boxes and radio buttons may not immediately in the nice XP hover over / colourful style. This is because the FlatStyle defaults to Standard and should be set to System to get the XP style. This can be easily done in the Form editor by setting each control that has a FlatStyle to System or by running FormatForWinXP(this); each time the form loads.

/// <summary>
/// Search the control for button type control and set the FlatStyle
/// of these buttons to System. This method searches Recursively into
/// control within control. 
/// </summary>
/// <param name="control">Control to search children of</param>
public static void FormatForWinXP(Control control)
{
    foreach( Control ctrlChild in control.Controls )
    {
        // Set FlatStyle.System if it is a button type control
        if(ctrlChild.GetType().BaseType == typeof(ButtonBase))
            ((ButtonBase)ctrlChild).FlatStyle = FlatStyle.System; 

        // Dive into the child controls if there are any
        if(ctrlChild.Controls.Count > 0)
            FormatForWinXP(ctrlChild);
    }
}

Conclusion

This method is quite simple but does not seem to work with up down number edit shown above. It is not automated by automatically compiling the manifest into the executable when it is built by the compiler. 

• This will only work on .NET Windows Forms base applications. For Win32 applications the assemblyIdentiy name must appear differently. 
• Also remember you can not run ComCtrl32 in a version of windows earlier than XP, so on 2000 and earlier your app will still appear battleship grey. 

I would also like to thank Doug, for the link to a more in depth explanation of how to use the manifest set see Using Windows XP Visual Styles With Controls on Windows Forms on the MSDN site.